Manual entries for an automated system

[egan857]

Hi, how would I get an automated NinjaScript application to recognize a manual entry?

I have a NinjaScript program that enters and exits positions. I thought that if I used ChartTrader to place an entry then I could get the program to work the exit (my exits are way more complicated than ATM strategies). But, even though the manually entered position is visible on the Positions tab of the Control Panel, it isn't visible on the Strategies tab - it shows as having the strategy enabled, but the position column is empty.

Is there a way to enter a position manually, either through ChartTrader or SuperDOM, that will be recognized by an enabled NinjaScript program for that symbol?

[NinjaTrader_AdamP]

egan,

There is no supported way currently for a automated strategy to manage a manually placed order at this time. You can use ATM strategies to manually manage strategy positions however.

The behavior you are seeing is because of the following : http://www.ninjatrader.com/support/h..._account_p.htm

[egan857]

Hi AdamP,

That's a shame. I figured out an alternative method for placing a manual order and having my NinjaScript work the position, but it's costly. I created a text file that's usually empty. When I enter the desired symbol, the strategy buys the stock and works the trade. Problem is, even if I have it check the file once a minute, it slows down the computer because I have a couple hundred programs all trying to read that file at the same time.

Is there a less CPU-intensive alternative to actually reading the file? Specifically, can I read the DOS update timestamp for the file from within a NinjaScript strategy?

[NinjaTrader_AdamP]

egan,

You can also create a strategy with its own "manual trade" buttons and bypass Chart Trader all together. NinjaScript is based on C# which is in the .NET framework. I have seen some strategies that incorporate custom buttons, etc. however again this would be unsupported.

http://www.ninjatrader.com/support/forum/showthread.php?t=23279

A lot of things are possible, but we wouldn't necessarily be able to help you get there is all that "unsupported" means. We would like to offer more assistance however these sort of items can open up a bag of worms and adversely affect our ability to provide support for other clients. Someone else may be able to comment, or you can research in the forum and/or at Big Mikes Trading forum.

I can also add a suggestion to our future development list to "Support Automated management of manually placed orders" if you would like and get you a tracking ID.

[egan857]

Hi AdamP,

Thanks for the link. I'm still trying to figure out how to create a button to link a manually entered position to a strategy. It looks over my head right now, so I will also take you up on the offer to add a suggestion for a new feature. Could you do that for me and get me a tracking number? Thanks!

[NinjaTrader_Matthew]

Hello,

I've went ahead and documented this feature requested and submitted to our product development team. Once we get a tracking ID, we will update this thread

[NinjaTrader_Matthew]

We appreciate your suggestion and have assigned this feature request ID # 294 in our tracking system.